...........Here's the challenge; explain why the following fighters became icons......sound easy? Well, not so fast. Please explain from a sociological standpoint, not just "cause his resume is very deep and fought in a good era and beat so-and-so." That is boring, let's have none of that. Why is it these fighters captured the imaginations of a generation of not just boxing fans, but people all aound the wold who may otherwise not have paid any attention to boxing. Here are the topic fighters.......... Joe Louis Roberto Duran Oscar De La Hoya ...........The winner of this writing competition shall earn the keys to this splendid Lambourghini: This content is protected Gentlemen, I await your answers.
Louis captured imaginations and hearts because he came along in the era of radio-broadcasted fights; that left alot to the imagination for the listeners who most of which had only seen photos of "the Brown Bomber".... He whipped everyone's ass in impressive fashion most of the time, then he fought Schmeling, who was cast as the Nazi boxing representative, and he whipped his ass. Duran was a natural fighter, a true badass, and he was mean. The fact that he didn't speak english helped that a bit because it added a little mystery to the man. He whipped the media darling in Leonard, which undoubtedly gave him the most exposure, and then blew it in the rematch. People in general like to see a train wreck. DelaHoya had high profile fights (which he won early in his career), and he is good-looking. That's it. There is no need to get more in-depth than that, because that's how shallow our society is.
.............All right, very good; we're off and running. As one who used to live in Phoenix (just off 85th St. and McDowell, near the Motorola plant) I have chosen you as the leader so far.
I'll try explain De La Hoya's popularity. Like DaveTheWave said in regards to Duran, everybody loves a train wreck. Well people also love a feel-good and inspirational story. DLH had that. After losing his mother to cancer he promised her that he would win a gold medal at the olympics. The media quickly recognised the potential of his backstory, add to the fact that he was good looking, well spoken, and he was also a extremely skilled boxer and there are the ingredients for popularity. DLH played the part by winning the gold and his career took off from there. His desire to fight the best and his quick rise through the ranks just added to his popularity. I also believe that his olympic fights and his early career was shown on free to air television. This greatly increased his exposure. Also, DLH is a Mexican-American and the large proportion of people in the U.S that belong to that ethnic group makes him even more popular. DLH is now probably the only mainstream boxer in the USA and its arguable that he has single-handedly kept boxing alive in America in the U.S.
I saw the mention of the Lambourghini, s, and this was too good not to inject: I was doin' business in Santa Monica, and parked in the NO PARKING space in front of the building next door was a stunning candy-apple red Lambourghini convertible. Walking around it, I spotted a handicapped card hangin' from the rearview mirror and a tantric sex book on the driver's seat. My curiosity got the best of me. Hadda see who'd come outta the building. Mustta waited a half hour, but never saw the driver. Somewhere in SM there's a helluva handicapped guy.
